One of the biggest challenges facing the e-commerce revolution lies in the ability of merchants providing a payment mechanism that consumers perceive as secure and convenient. Multiple alternatives have been proposed and are now in use for providing secure and convenient payment for [i][b][url=http://www.ondemandwebsite.com]Business website[/url][/b][/i], but none has anywhere near the acceptance that paper and coin based currency have today. For electronic commerce to gain acceptance beyond a niche market, ordinary consumers will have to be persuaded to accept some form of digital payment mechanism as being reliable and convenient to use as cash is today.

Privacy remains to be one of the biggest challenges facing a quick adoption of a single payment mechanism on the Business website. The reality is that every time one purchases goods using a credit card, subscribes to a magazine, or accesses a server, that information finds its way into a database somewhere. All payment details of a consumer can be easily aggregated and essentially condensed to a single dossier. This dossier would reflect what items were bought, where, and when. In effect the technology as it exists today has the potential to violate any individual’s privacy. This issue needs to be addressed and safeguards incorporated to ensure consumer privacy. Guaranteeing transaction confidentiality and data integrity are a forgone conclusion for the future growth/adoption of Web based transactions/commerce.

For obvious reasons, all electronic payment systems need to be able to keep automatic records. The benefit of this system lies in its availability for permanent storage, accessibility, and traceability. However, the need for record keeping for purposes of risk management conflicts with the transaction anonymity of cash and can easily lead to violations in privacy.

Issues

• Consumer protection from fraud
• Transaction privacy and safety
• Competitive pricing of payment services to ensure equal access to all consumers
• Right to choice of institutions and payment methods